Assessment of the nesting population demography of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in La Roche Percée: first long-term monitoring in New Caledonia.

Population monitoring is essential to assess, manage and protect threatened species. Although the South Pacific loggerhead turtle subpopulation is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN, monitoring data are scarce.
This study reports the results of the first long-term monitoring of the nesting population of loggerhead turtles held by Bwärä Tortues Marines on La Roche Percée beach, New Caledonia. From 2006 to 2020, Capture Mark Recapture was used to identify nesting individuals. Time and nesting success were recorded on site.
A total of 452 different females were observed and tagged over 14 years. The number of different nesting individuals observed each year showed a significant increase along the timeframe of the study. A remigration interval of 3.34 years was observed and the overall nesting success was 59.02%. This study also reports the inter-nesting intervals, monthly and hourly variabilities in the visits at the nesting site.
The conservation actions led by Bwärä Tortues..., Overview
Over 14 years (2006-2020), daily patrols were implemented throughout each nesting season (from November to March). The timing and activities of the loggerhead turtles were monitored.
Study site
The study was conducted on La Roche Percée, a sandy beach in the Bay of La Roche Percée, New Caledonia (-21.612831, 165.463286). This site is included in a marine protected area registered under the natural reserve status (Decree n° 33-1993/APS 1993 and 293-99/PS, 1999). The beach is oriented South-west and is 2.5 km in length starting from a stand-up rock at the North-western end, to the mouth of the Néra river at the South-eastern end. The Néra river brings dark sediments directly to the beach of La Roche Percée resulting in darker sand compared to nearby beaches. La Roche Percée bay faces a large break in the barrier reef surrounding the area, allowing waves but also marine megafauna to enter the lagoon. At high tide, the beach is 20m (meters) wide in the middle and 100m wide at the n..., R Statistical software (v4.2.2; R Core Team 2022) was used to run the statistical analyses.Â